Signs, signs, everywhere there’s signs

Throughout Fiesta, anyone who traveled a stretch of San Antonio highways likely saw one of TxDOT’s many digital message boards urging drivers to stay “Fiesta Safe” or reminding them of the following: “Drink. Drive. Go to Jail.”

TxDOT and local law enforcement officials are hoping those signs were one of the reasons there were no alcohol or Fiesta-related traffic fatalities in San Antonio during the entire 11-day event. (yay!).

But since yesterday, drivers may have noticed a new message scrolling across those TxDOT highway boards, and it has nothing to do with alcohol or Fiesta.

The newest TxDOT slogan, on roughly 60 digital message boards across the city, reads, “You talk. You text. You crash.”

The message is part of a statewide TxDOT distracted driving campaign, said Samuel Aguirre, traffic safety specialist for TxDOT San Antonio. April is distracted driving month.

The campaign started in other Texas cities April 11. It launched in San Antonio on Sunday, Aguirre said, because before then, the TxDOT signs were reserved for Fiesta-related messages.

For anyone who’s confused about the law right now, let me clarify: it is illegal to text and drive in San Antonio; it is illegal to text or talk on a cell phone in a school zone in San Antonio; but it is NOT illegal to drive and talk on a cell phone anywhere else in San Antonio.

Aguirre said TxDOT officials recognize a driver who talks on a cell phone isn’t breaking the law, but that’s beside the point.

“Once they’re (drivers) using the cell phone, they’re automatically distracted,” Aguirre said. “We’re trying to encourage all San Antonians to focus on their driving and put down their cell phones.”

In 2009, more than 100,000 verhicles were involved in crashes statewide because of distraction in the vehicle, driver inattention or cell phone use, Aguirre said. Of those, 408 crashes were fatal. Aguirre added that 3,308 crashes were attributed specifically to cell phone use in 2009; 41 were fatal.

A report by the Texas Transportation Insitute showed 85 percent of those surveyed said they think texting while driving has gotten worse in the last five years.

Aguirre recognizes the challenges of convincing San Antonio drivers to hang up and drive, since there are no legal penalties outside of the school zone law. But cell-phone related accidents are now becoming a problem on par with DWIs, he said.

“Now everybody has a cell phone. Kids have cell phones. Everybody has cell phones. We want to make sure they use their cell phones correctly,” he said.

If you need to answer the phone, TxDOT advises motorists to pull off the road to a safe location and then take the call.

“No call is worth your life,” he said.

But don’t get too used to the Talk, Text, Crash,” signs. They’ll be gone by the end of the week, to make way for signs urging caution during motorcycle safety awareness month.